THE Novak Djokovic he bent the resistance of the very militant Mensik in Shanghai and remained alive in his quest for the 100th title in his career.
The Serbian champion though found himself behind in the sets by star of NextGenturned the situation around, took the win at 3 sets (6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4) and advanced to the Shanghai semi-finals for the ninth time and first since 2018.
His start was sluggish, however Djokovic stepped up and played a near flawless second set, during which he won 92% (11/12) of his points service game of at his first serve!
“Until the last moment we were going point for point“, said Djokovic initially, to add: “I was lucky to find great serves in the last game and some aces. This helps. I didn’t serve that well at the end of the first set when I was serving for the set. Mencic played very well in the tie-break.
I stayed focused and started really well in the second set. I felt that we both had a physical fatigue at the beginning of the set. We pushed each other a lot, a lot of long rallies. It was a hard battle, almost two and a half hours».
THE Djokovic took the third and final set and will face the 7th ranked in the “4”. Taylor Fritzwho took a commanding victory (6-3, 6-4) over him David Gofan.
NOVAK. DJOKOVIC.@DjokerNole comes from a set down to defeat Jakub Mensik and reach his 7??8??th ATP Masters 1000 semi-final ??@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/rRZRgeZkmH
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2024
Magic??@DjokerNole #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/WJWHAANOaJ
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) October 11, 2024
Off to a flyer??@mensik_jakub_ takes a tight first set 7-6 against Djokovic#RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/Xnz8qPEWX7
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) October 11, 2024
Sealed with an ace??
The moment @DjokerNole became the third oldest man to reach ATP Masters 1000 semi-final after Federer ??@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/glxPE8KpU9
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2024
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